


Sweet

by daintylemonsquare



Category: Dalton Academy Series
Genre: AU where neither of them are rich, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, just a couple of dumbasses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:09:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28345179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daintylemonsquare/pseuds/daintylemonsquare
Summary: Julian Larson had a crush on the man living down the hall of his apartment but hadn't asked him out yet until it was seemingly too late.
Relationships: Julian Larson-Armstrong/Clark Sawyer
Kudos: 3





	Sweet

There was an absolute unit of a man down the hall from Julian’s apartment. Every time he smiled was like being shot by cupid’s arrow ten times through the heart. And he smiled very often. It was bright enough to be genuine but soft enough that it wasn’t disconcerting. The first time he saw this smile was on the day he moved in. Julian was lounging among us unopened boxes with takeout and a cheap box of wine when there was a knock on the door. There was that smile. He welcomed him to the building and offered a chocolate bar and said he had alternatives if Julian was allergic to chocolate or preferred something else. Julian took the chocolate. Since then, every other weekend, he would hand Julian candy whenever they happened upon each other. (He got it from the gigs he sometimes did, he said, and he always had extra that he passed around the apartment.) He always said good morning to anyone he passed by in the hall, and always offered to help carry whatever if he happened to pass by someone carrying even the smallest grocery bag. And he smelled nice. Not overpoweringly so. Handsome gentlemen who knew showered on the reg and didn’t overload on their cologne felt like cryptids in cities like this. Whenever they saw each other in the hall, Julian still couldn’t believe in eyes. Finally, as if Julian needed any more reason to time his exits from his apartment to make sure he saw at least one picturesque view a day, he sang. Julian was a sucker for a singer with an instrument. During the past holiday season, he was caroling through the apartment building with his guitar, gathering money for a non-profit organization helping homeless people. Julian almost slammed the door at him, he was that overwhelmed.

It came to no surprise that Clark Sawyer from room 3F was taken.

Julian was disappointed. When he saw that adorable red head come out of Clark’s room one morning, the day was ruined for him. It was petty, for sure. He had no claim over Clark. And he couldn’t hate the man who was visiting him more often these days. He was jealous, as he watched him hug Clark goodbye and Clark watched him walk to the elevator, but he couldn’t hate him. He couldn’t hate Clark either, who saw him watching one day and waved at him.

“How was your day?” Clark asked, waving as if it wasn’t soured the moment he saw the other man leave Clark’s apartment.

“Super,” Julian replied with a smile that appeared without fail whenever he saw Clark.

“Great! Night!” Then Clark stepped back into his apartment.

Julian sighed.

There were plenty of time for Julian to ask him out but didn’t. It was always one excuse after the other. He didn’t know which way Clark swung, if he swung at all. He was busy doing one thing or the other to make a name for himself in this city while paying his rent on time. He worried about if it didn’t work out and he had to live with the awkwardness of a failed date with someone from his apartment building. It wasn’t like he could ghost him properly. He couldn’t afford to move now. All of these came crashing down on him each time he saw Clark with that guy. He had no one to blame but himself.

It was Valentine’s day when it happened. He managed to get out of working the dinner shift that day and planned on spending the last few hours of daylight drinking wine and preparing for a night out of getting lost in a crowd of warm, lonely bodies in whatever club he and his friends decided to go to. He grimaced at the decorations that were pinned in his hallway. He had half a mind to pop a few balloons but that was too dramatic, even for him. And then Clark would open his door and ask what was going on and Julian would have to figure something out and plenty of people have told him that he was bad at improv so it wouldn’t go over well. Not to mention, there was a chance that red head was there again and Julian wasn’t sure if he could stomach it today.

Julian passed Clark’s door, which was thankfully quiet. Maybe he was out for the day with his boyfriend. Most of Clark’s working hours fell during the afternoon or late at night so it was possible he had work. But Julian’s soul jumped through his bones when the door behind him creaked open and Clark said, “Julian! You’re back early! Sorry, did I surprise you?”

Julian turned around. “Yeah, uh, I asked for the night off for this one.”

“Oh…” Clark’s smile dimmed and shoulders slumped slightly. “Special plans with a special someone?”

Julian shook his head. “Just hanging out with some friends. Getting drunk. Make bad life decisions.” A warm, beguiling scene wafted from Clark’s open door. Julian could already taste the buttery sugar after one deep breath. “Are you…baking something?”

Clark turned pink and looked down. “Uh…yeah.”

“I didn’t think you baked,” Julian said.

“Me neither.” Clark chuckled. “Listen, I didn’t—I mean—I thought you had work,” he added in a mutter. “Restaurants usually—Anyway. Did you…do you want to taste some? I’ve got one batch out of the oven.”

Julian’s face crinkled, amused but perturbed. “Um…won’t your boyfriend prefer you not to have someone else in your apartment during Valentine’s day? I’m sure he’s, like, coming over soon, right?”

“Coming over? Boyf—you mean Mikey?” Clark asked, head tilted. His eyes widened. “Oh my god, you think Mikey’s my boyfriend?”

Julian floundered for a response, mouth bobbing open then close. He wasn’t sure how to process that, let alone respond to it. “What?” That was all he could muster.

“Oh my god.” Clark laughed. “Wait there. I’ll be right out.”

Julian stood in silent uncertainty. His heart was beating fast as his mind began to churn out reasons as to why Clark said “you think Mikey’s my boyfriend” in such a way that made the concept of their relationship laughable. His first instinct was run to his apartment and chug the wine he saved for this day. His second instinct was to burst into Clark’s apartment to do away with the suspense and his own impatience.

Before he could do anything at all, Clark walked out of his apartment, holding a small bouquet of lollipops and a heart-shaped tray of large, bumpy looking cookies. Julian stared at them then back at Clark, who took a deep breath. “There was supposed to be more and I’d put them in a box and then I’d invite you to a show I’m playing tonight with my band and this whole letter about how you make it hard for me to form any sentences without immediately sweating and hoping you’d think I was cool or whatever and I know you like sweet stuff because you always take the candy I gave you and you eat them right away. Anyway. Happy Valentine’s day. Wanna go to a show I’m playing later?” He offered the tray and the bouquet.

Julian took the tray and the bouquet. “Clark…I thought you and, uh, Mikey…?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Mikey’s my friend and he’s been teaching me how to bake for the last month so I could do this for you. I now realize how that may have looked from an outside perspective. I just wanted to do something romantic when I asked you out, you know?” Clark kicked the carpet and hung his head bashfully. “Is this stupid? You totally don’t have to go anywhere with me if you don’t want to. You can still keep the cookies. I know they look like muffins but the recipe called for a muffin tin. I think they were supposed to be like lava cakes but that felt too messy and my kitchen’s already a huge mess. They’re Nutella chocolate chip. Very gooey.”

Julian smiled and Clark smiled with him. “This is great. Thank you, Clark.” He tucked the bouquet under his arm and plucked one large cookie from the tray.

“Does this mean you’ll go later? You can totally invite your friends too, if you want.”

Julian took a bite. It was a rush of sugar that mirrored the rush of triumphant glee that was zipping up and down his body. “What time is it?”

“Nine,” Clark said.

“I’ll let them know. Wanna grab dinner before that?” Julian asked.

“Yeah,” Clark nodded. “Yes, I would love to grab dinner with you.”

“It’s a date.” Julian leaned up and kissed Clark on the cheek. When he walked backwards to his apartment, he saw the brightest smile shine from Clark’s face since they first met and suddenly every sour day he had leading up to this one faded under the sweet that lingered on his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Song I listened to on repeat while writing this:  
> Boys Like You by Who is Fancy feat. Meghan Trainor and Ariana Grande


End file.
